mcartier713

anyone a Marine pilot? or know anything about flying for the Marines?

C-17 Driver

Every Marine is a Rifleman...including pilots.

I have a family member who flies Harriers for the USMC. It's next to impossible to be a career pilot (if that is what you want.) Majority of the pilots fly rotary while the majority of fixed wing assets are Harriers, Hornets, and Hercs. The F-35 will come online sometime in the future.

sigtauenus

Whaddaya want to know? C-17 nailed it so far. Split is about 70-30 RW to FW in the Marines. Of the 30% FW, roughly 60% fly Hornets, 35% Harriers, and 5% Prowlers. JSF (F-35) is scheduled for IOC in 2013.

Right now regardless of aircraft, you can expect to be on a 6-18 month cycle, ie, 6 months overseas 6 months home (worst case for East coast Cobra's right now) to 6 months overseas then 18 months home (doesn't happen often right now). Most squadrons are closer to 6 over 12 back.

Following is Hornet perspective.

While you are home you will work about 12-14 hours a day, you will be expected to fly a cross country once a month. If you don't fly a cross country once a month you might get 8-10 hours a month, if you fly a cross country you can get 18-20 on average (10 hours over a weekend). While you are "home" you will not really be home, there will be 4-8 week dets to 29 Palms for CAX or Mojave Viper as they change the name of the excercise, various dets to Yuma, El Centro, Key West, etc (Obviously some can be fun others just work), and when you are not flying the 8-10 hours a month that you might get, you are studying, doing a ground job, studying, preparing for flight, and oh yeah, studying.

You will get the crap kicked out of you in the ready room if you don't know your stuff, you will get the crap kicked out of you in the brief getting ready to fly if you don't know your stuff, you will get the crap kicked out of you during the flight if you don't know your stuff, and in the post flight debrief, yes, you will get the crap kicked out of you if don't know your stuff.

That being said, from the 35 minute flight doing BFM (dogfighting) where you are spending your time between idle and afterburner, negative to 7.5 g's, to the 2 hour self escort strike where you pre-mission tank, then fight your way through the bad guys who outnumber you, destroy a target, and then fight your way home (once again outnumbered), to providing close air support for the grunts, it is the most exhilarating job known to man. Perhaps second to the job Ron Jeremy has, but besides that, pretty damn fun.

You can climb out the jet and whether you were king kong or if you sucked on that flight you still learn something new every day, still feel a great sense of accomplishment, and look forward with longing to the next chance you get to rage around by yourself in a 35 million dollar jet.

BDGERJMN

If you do end up flying Hornets, you'll also spend alot of time wondering to yourself, why didn' the Marines buy Superhornets. What Sig didn't tell you is that the F/A-18Ds are quickly running out of FLE(life expectancy) and the C's are running out of traps. So as they wait for 2013(yeah right) they will run out of airframes. Sad but true.

My .02

Bdger

sigtauenus

yeah, true. When I left the fleet we were only flying BFM for currency, 3 g's in the break... gotta save FLE...

BTW, when I came in, JSF was supposed to be here 2008. Now its 2013.

Bdger, you know about the 33 pin processors in the JSF? (you're probably thinking "what's a 33 pin processor...which is exactly my point!!)

BDGERJMN

Nor do I care, but I do know this, if the Marines had bought even one squadron worth of F's we'd have enough D's to train with for the foreseeable future in the C world and not degrade training because we don't have enough 2 seaters to train, instead we cut 2 seat hops out of the syllabus and call it good. And big Navy wonders why mishap rates are on the rise........less hours, replacing flight hours with sim time. I digress.

mcartier713

hmmm.. im asking because I know I want to fly "part-time" for the military, I just dont know which branch I want to pursue.

usmc-sgt

The Marines offer a great quality of life......for the citizens of this great country

It is different, you will work more, be home less, be abused every day and told that you were a mistake and they are going to call your recruiter and get them fired, but after all that you still would not trade a single day of your enlistment for any other branch. The sense of pride you feel, the bonds you make, the brotherhood is unlike anything I have ever seen in this world and you you wake up everyday with a great feeling of self worth.

Somedays you wake up in the middle of the sand and you say "man, what the hell was I thinking" but then you get a reality check and get back to work realizing you are there because you chose to be there and every guy to your left and right would die for you in a second and will do everything in their power and even lose their lives to get you home to your wife and kids. I also compare it to being out in the rain in a sense as far as deployment...you start getting wet and it is miserable and it sucks and you are wet and cold but once you are soaked you just take it in stride and realize it cant get any worse and you actually start to have alot of fun.


So if any of that sounds appealing then absolutely the Marines are for you..otherwise I think the airforce is looking for a few good airmen


*absolutely not putting down any of my fellow servicemembers just have a special place for the Corps

sigtauenus

If you're looking for a part-time job, I suggest the ANG.

Marines have reserves, but to get into a Cobra or Hornet reserve squadron, you already need to be a Cobra or Hornet pilot.

ANG will train you and then you can hang out part-time.

One other suggestion, if you do look into ANG, location is more significant than aircraft. Choose a place you like to live and won't have to commute instead of picking an aircraft that might be cool to fly.

sigtauenus

Got this in an email from a buddy of mine. Its funny, just remember Marine pilots are Naval Aviators, too, so most of the below applies.

The question of today - WHETHER TO BECOME AN AIR FORCE PILOT......
OR A NAVAL AVIATOR......

********************************

The piece is written by Bob Norris, a former Naval aviator who also did a 3 year exchange tour flying the F-15 Eagle. He is now an accomplished author of entertaining books about U.S. Naval Aviation including "Check Six" and "Fly-Off".

In response to a letter from an aspiring fighter pilot on which military academy to attend, Bob replied with the following:

10 January 2006

Young Man,

Congratulations on your selection to both the Naval and Air Force Academies. Your goal of becoming a fighter pilot is impressive and a fine way to serve your country. As you requested, I'd be happy to share some insight into which service would be the best choice. Each service has a distinctly different culture. You need to ask yourself "Which one am I more likely to thrive in?"

Air Force Snapshot: The USAF is exceptionally well organized and well run. Their training programs are terrific. All pilots are groomed to meet high standards for knowledge and professionalism. Their aircraft are top-notch and extremely well maintained. Their facilities are excellent. Their enlisted personnel are the brightest and the best trained. The USAF is homogenous and macro. No matter where you go, you'll know what to expect, what is expected of you, and you'll be given the training & tools you need to meet those expectations. You will never be put in a situation over your head. Over a 20-year career, you will be home for most important family events. Your Mom would want you to be an Air Force pilot...so would your wife. Your Dad would want your sister to marry one.

Navy Snapshot: Aviators are part of the Navy, but so are Black Shoes(surface warfare) and Bubble Heads (submariners). Furthermore, the Navy is split into two distinctly different Fleets (West and East Coast). The Navy is heterogeneous and micro. Your squadron is your home; it may be great, average, or awful. A squadron can go from one extreme to the other before you know it. You will spend months preparing for cruise and months on cruise. The quality of the aircraft varies directly with the availability of parts. Senior Navy enlisted are salt of the earth; you'll be proud if you earn their respect. Junior enlisted vary from terrific to the troubled kid the judge made join the service. You will be given the opportunity to lead these people during your career; you will be humbled and get your hands dirty. The quality of your training will vary and sometimes you will be over your head. You will miss many important family events. There will be long stretches of tedious duty aboard ship. You will fly in very bad weather and/or at night and you will be scared many times. You will fly with legends in the Navy and they will kick your ass until you become a lethal force. And some days - when the scheduling Gods have smiled upon you - your jet will catapult into a glorious morning over a far-away sea and you will be drop-jawed that someone would pay you to do it. The hottest girl in the bar wants to meet the Naval Aviator. That bar is in Singapore.

Bottom line, son, if you gotta ask...pack warm & good luck in Colorado.

Banzai

P.S.: Air Force pilots wear scarves and iron their flight suits.